Hi, i'm kind of new to the programming field. I've been programming in Java for the last 2 years at school and am looking towards the future. I really enjoy cars and I think it would be really cool to help design automotive games like Forza or Gran Turismo. I will be graduating in a few years with a major in Applied Mathematics, minors in Computer Science, Physics, and Japanese, so I understand that difficulty is involved. I am just curious if anyone know what language games, like Forza and Gran Turismo, are typically programmed in so I can start focusing that way. Any info you have is appreciated. Thanks.

Hi, i'm kind of new to the programming field. I've been programming in Java for the last 2 years at school and am looking towards the future. I really enjoy cars and I think it would be really cool to help design automotive games like Forza or Gran Turismo. I will be graduating in a few years with a major in Applied Mathematics, minors in Computer Science, Physics, and Japanese, so I understand that difficulty is involved. I am just curious if anyone know what language games, like Forza and Gran Turismo, are typically programmed in so I can start focusing that way. Any info you have is appreciated. Thanks.

Generally, most games are written using C/C++. You have to learn the language (thoroughly, mind you) and then learn a framework such as DirectX or OpenGL. These are for the graphics, DirectX is ubiquitous for the PC while OpenGL gives you flexibility to also develop for the Mac.

As far as graphics engines are concerned, that's a whole different ball game. I know companies like Crytek wrote their own graphics engine for games like Farcry and Crysis. Your best bet is to find a graphics engine that you're comfortable using and develop on that.

However, Microsoft released a package called XNA which utilizes their DirectX and .NET Platform. You can write games using a managed language such as C# and develop games using Microsoft's framework. I believe that XNA is what they use to develop games for XBox as well. Plus it's not as threatening, I believe XNA packages everything for you so you're almost spoon fed from the ground up.

In theory, you could have the engine written in C, network code in Java, AI in Lisp, scripting done in Python, and then write a custom compiler to emit Objective-C to run on the iPhone. In reality, each of those languages have been used to develop entire games. Pick your poison. Unfortunately, the term "game programming" is often not descriptive enough to answer most questions.

For some positions, game development is mostly just a matter of knowing the various libraries and being able to "rewire" code. One of my friends works at a company that simply ports games developed at other companies. He graduated from a "game school" and doesn't know any computer science -- data structures, computational complexity, languages, compilers, AI -- none of it. However, he is a critical member of his team because he works hard, puts in the hours, and knows the APIs. He found his niche.

At the other end of the spectrum, you have people like Andrew Gavin and Jason Rubin who worked in the MIT AI Lab as PhD students. They have extensive CS knowledge. They are expert LISP programmers who created their own embedded game programming language (GOAL -- Game Object Assembly Lisp), founded Naughty Dog software, and made millions on hit games like Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter. Some people find a niche; Others make a business.

IMHO, Gamasutra is easily the best source of information on "innards" of the game industry. They have a ton of excellent content. Someday, I'll buy a time machine and get caught up. =)

I think Gadget hit it right on. These days, I don't think any company uses just ONE language to write games. I think they use a mixture of them, but probably most commonly found would be C/C++, C# and Java, I think mainly because these are portable, and since some titles are released on the Mac and PC, this would only make more sense to use thana language that might only be specific to one OS/platform. (I could be entirely wrong on this, but it would make sense to use one of the more common languages like C/C++, Java or C#).

And OMG... LISP... we had a discussion about this somewhere else on the forums and from what I saw with LISP (the syntaxing), I'd rather write IBM mainframe Assembler than use LISP...

Lisp is a very robust language. It may be difficult but it is certainly not the worst language I've seen. Lisp is meant for certain objectives, such as maintaining and creating large databases/mainframes as well as being very useful in designing artificial intelligence.

Its syntax was used in the BLAM! game engine that was licensed for Halo 1, 2, (probably 3 as well) and Stubbz the Zombie, as well as another game. Just because it's tough to wrap your head around doesn't mean it isn't useful in its own situation.

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